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Dallas hasn’t officially starting the training camp, but voluntary OTAs (Organized Team Activities) are going on, and mini-camp will be coming along.

For starters, we have a serious injury to second-string cornerback, Orlando Scandrick, who “shattered” his finger on the 26th of May. The injury is indefinite for now. Scandrick believes he isn’t going to be catching balls until training camp starts in late July.

He was breaking up a pass intended for wide receiver Manuel Johnson, a seventh round pick from last year, and his hand immediately went numb, but it was a while later before he truly realized how serious the injury was. He had surgery soon after and the pin that was inserted into finger isn’t going to be taken out for a while.

There has been no news about Keith Brooking’s knee surgery, which probably means that his rehab is going according to schedule. He’ll be needed this past season with his amazing leadership and hard tackles.

Roy Williams has stated that he and Tony Romo are now connecting very well, are on the same page, and even made a comparison that I felt wasn’t the most strategic move to Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.

That aside, the Cowboys are doing well at workouts. Marion Barber has actually lost ten pounds, bringing his weight down to the 212-215 range in order to gain some speed on the ground. He’s still strong as an ox, but Barber knows that speed is difference in the open field between a 15 yard gain and a 25 yard gain.

Barber is not going to be the starting running back, that privilege has been awarded to Felix Jones now, but Barber is a team player and will try his hardest whenever he gets his carries, so this news is very encouraging.

Dez Bryant has been on fire lately according to most viewer reports. Bryant, the controversial Oklahoma State receiver, was drafted by Dallas because in 1998, the Cowboys passed on another similar receiver named Randy Moss.

Those who don’t know who Randy Moss is just need to watch the highlight films of the 2007 Patriots. Moss accounted for 23 of Tom Brady’s touchdown passes that year.

In fact, Moss had the greatest rookie season a wide receiver has ever had. He had 17 touchdowns, 69 receptions, and 1313 yards; just an unstoppable player.

Dez Bryant is probably hoping to do the same for us. While that is asking a lot of the young man, I’d be thrilled if he did do it. That could be the finishing move for Dallas to win in the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl.

The team is taking a “best player” approach to every position, including quarterback. It doesn’t matter how long you have been the starter, if you are outplayed then you don’t start. It makes the players play better knowing that they have challenges for their jobs.

Linebacker Jason Williams, a third round pick from last year, is very psyched about the opportunity to be the nickel linebacker. The nickel linebacker is the guy who usually comes in on third down when it is an obvious passing down, and the linebacker from first and second down come out to stay fresh.

Since the Cowboys have traded Bobby Carpenter to the St. Louis Rams, they now have an opening at the nickel linebacker, and challenging Williams will be first and foremost, Sean Lee, the rookie linebacker drafted by Dallas in the second round this past draft.

I can’t say for sure who will win in these competitions. I wish I was in Dallas instead of my tiny town in Texas, but I’m sure that the Cowboys are going to take the right steps, and we can only hope that there isn’t a sudden outbreak of injuries on the team. That would be a real problem.

This post was originally posted at: http://www.mtrmedia.com/cowboys/2010/06/dallas-cowboys-offseason-workout-report-1.html